Kate O’Brien
Spain’s debt with “that lady”, the Irish writer Kate O’Brien
Pilar Iglesias-Aparicio If the King Philip II used the expression “that lady” to name Ana de Mendoza, the Princess of Eboli, in a derogatory and revengeful way, Kate O’Brien gave it a different meaning as the title of her seventh novel, published in 1947. The same expression may be used now, in a very different sense, considering O’Brien a “real lady”, for the high quality of her literary work; her love for Spain; her interest in Spanish literary and historical figures such as Teresa de Jesús, Ana de Mendoza, Jacinto Benavente and Miguel de Cervantes; her courage approaching certain subjects provoked that two of her novels, Mary Lavelle (1936) and Land of spices (1941) were banned in Ireland for opposing the rigid parameters of sexual moral imposed by Eamon de Valera government and another...
Cincuenta Aniversario de la muerte de Kate O’brien
Por José Antonio Yturriaga Ex embajador de España en Irlanda Con 25 años se fue a Portugalete (Bilbao) a trabajar como institutriz en casa de los Areilza, donde fue profesora de inglés de José María, Conde de Motrico, que sería embajador de España y ministro de Asuntos Exteriores. La joven Kate quedó prendada de España, a la que adoptó como su segunda patria. Según ha señalado Benedict Kiely, “O’Brien adoptó a un solo país y no al mundo entero, y evitó de esta forma convertirse en una escritora cosmopolita, por este profundo sentido del significado místico de la llegada y de la partida de la muerte, que era el final de la partida y el preludio de la última llegada. España influyó en ella tan poderosamente, no solo por el hecho de que estuviera allí cuando era muy joven, sino porque en el m...
Invitation to the Launch of the 2024 Festival Programme
We are delighted to invite you to the launch of the Limerick Literary Festival in Honour of Kate O’Brien. Novelist Dan Mooney will launch the programme for The Limerick Literary Festival at 5.00pm on Wednesday January 24th in O’Mahony’s Bookshop, Limerick. The Festival will run in Limerick February 23rd, 24th and 25th at the Dooradoyle Library and Belltable. The event continues to honour the life and works of the Limerick author, Kate O’Brien, while attracting prominent participants from all over the world. The Limerick Literary Festival is this year celebrating its 40th anniversary alongside the 50th anniversary of the death of O’Brien. It originally started as The Kate O’Brien Weekend in 1984 to mark the tenth anniversary of her death. We continue to celebrate the leg...